Samsung to tweak Galaxy S II, more to get around Dutch ban
updated 10:20 am EDT, Wed October 12, 2011
Samsung hopes Galaxy changes will dodge Apple ban
Samsung said it planned to release "upgraded" versions of the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Ace to jump around Apple's successful ban on their sale in the Netherlands. Company official James Chung said the company had "fixed the technological problem" with its implementation of photo browsing in its customized version of Android. He would only tell Reuters that they would be available soon.
Samsung had until October 14 to address the patent issue before any ban took effect.
Apple had seen nine of the 10 patent claims it made in the Dutch court this past August tossed out, including basic model rights, but the one win was enough to get a preliminary ban on Samsung's most important phone lines. Its ruling was potentially valid for more of Europe and was considered one of Samsung's higher priorities despite German limits.
Across all its lawsuits, Apple has accused Samsung of "slavishly" copying its look and feel in smartphones and tablets. While not as apparent in the US, most versions of the Galaxy S II have a conspicuously iPhone-like home button not common to Android; all of them use a TouchWiz interface whose app layout, icons, and other elements that look more like Apple's than is the case with any other Android implementation.
Samsung has argued that Apple's patents are too generic, most of all for tablets. So far, it has had only limited success and faces restrictions not just in Europe but in Australia.
